Jesus and Faith Healing

  When I became a Born-Again Christian, I was baptized into the world of faith healing from a Charismatic point of view.  I was taught that healing was bought for us on the cross and because Jesus took our sicknesses on the cross, we never need to be sick again.

  I was taught that if I get sick, I should never accept it or mention that I am sick; but rather I should speak health into my body by saying positive things acknowledging my health because words hold power to heal or to make sick.

  Through the years I abandoned a lot of what I was taught because I saw a cruel side to this type of faith healing; and to be honest, I thought it was better to err on the side of compassion for those who aren't healed than to punish the sick with a "you lack faith" trip.  Love is more important than faith, and compassion is better than doctrine; but it always haunted  me as to what Jesus said about faith.  So I bit the bullet and studied every time Jesus mentioned faith or the lack thereof.

FAITH

  We all know that faith moves mountains, but have you ever seen anyone move a mountain?  So its a metaphor?  Maybe, but then again, if God was planning to move some mountain, might he not use someone's faith to do so?  So then it would be God choosing, and then using someone to accomplish the task.  So does this mean that healing faith has to be tied to something that God already wants to do?  Then can we speak healing into someone only when God wants to do it?  Or can we any time?  I was taught that we can any time.  This verse seems to be very straightforward, but in the end is not as easily interpreted as it seems.  I will settle on the fact that faith can do amazing things that are impossible in the realm of science and human existence.

  Jesus never gave us a definition of faith or where it comes from.  He simply recognized its presence or its absence and he knew what faith could do.

A LITTLE FAITH GOES A LONG WAY

  Jesus compared faith to a mustard seed which is very small but grows into a large bush.  When the disciples asked for more faith, he basically told them that they had enough faith, because even a little is all one needs.  So then, faith is not about how much but rather it is how to use what we have.

LACK OF FAITH

  Jesus' moaned because his generation was faithless.  His generation was not all that different than ours in that aspect.  Rather, every generation including our own could be called faithless in the same way if not more than the generation Jesus lived in.

  Jesus also saw a lack of faith in his own hometown. This kind of lack of faith was brought on by jealousy, anger and downright hatred.  People had Jesus pegged as a normal kid who became an adult within a family that everyone knew.  For Jesus to fit into some messiah like character was not acceptable.  Other towns that did not grow up with him could fit their hopes and dreams into Jesus, but not his home town.  Other cities could make Jesus the figure who embodied their dreams and fantasies, but not his home town.  They knew him as a part of a poor family.

  Notice that these two examples show that the people who lacked faith did not accept or want Jesus around.  They completely and entirely rejected Jesus and because of that, the Bible says that Jesus was limited in his miracles.

  The disciples also lacked faith from time to time, however, besides one occasion, their lack of faith had nothing to do with healing.  It had to do with food and with walking on water.  Furthermore, when it came to healing and lacking faith, the disciples lacked faith as healers, not as those needing to be healed.  No one who needed healing was ever denied because of a lack of faith.  Only healers (the disciples) lacked faith in the Gospels.

THE PRESENCE OF FAITH

  Anyone who came to Jesus desiring healing was healed.  If Jesus told anything about faith to anyone coming to him looking for healing, he told them that they had great faith in coming to the healer looking for healing and expecting to be healed.  Jesus looked for, encouraged, and found the presence of faith in others.  The only people he ever saw a lack of faith in was his disciples - the healers themselves.

  In other words, Jesus only told sick people that they had an amazing faith.  He never told them they lacked faith.  Ever! 

  When the disciples who were healers in training could not cast out a demon, they did not blame the father of the possessed boy or the possessed boy.  They asked Jesus why they couldn't cast out the demon.  Jesus told them that they - the healers - lacked faith and commitment.  They should have fasted and prayed this thing out.

TODAY

  What we see and hear today by faith healers is not from the Bible at all.  The sick are blamed and turned away from healers who make money by selling books, by preaching.  The healers transfer the blame for their own lack of faith onto the person or people who come to them in faith hoping to be healed.  This practice and this teaching is not only unbiblical, it is cruel.  This teaching has reached down into the pews and into the hearts of very well meaning Christians who hope to help their sick friends, but more often than not, hurt them instead.

  I have heard the stories and have seen the hurt in people who had to deal with diabetes, tragedy, sickness, and the accusations of church members who tell them that they lack faith.  I have seen a friend who won dozens to Christ become an outcast in his community because he went to them for prayer but was not healed.  I have seen a man paralyzed from an accident publicly turned away from a faith healer, and told that he did not have enough faith.

  These people in need did not lack faith.  According to Jesus and according to his practice, the healers lacked faith but conveniently placed the blame on the victims - those who had faith to ask for prayer.

  I believe in healing and believe that God heals today.  I have been healed and have prayed for others who were miraculously healed.  But this teaching and this practice that blames the victims must stop.